'Dawn' Splits Reviewers

The first Enterprise episode of 2003 has provoked diverse opinions from Internet critics - while some felt it was a solid piece of science-fiction, others thought the episode was devoid of originality.

A roundup of seven reviews recently posted online can be found below:

Paul Pytlik at Lowerdecks.com awarded 'Dawn' a score of 8 out of 10, praising both Connor Trinneer ('Trip' Tucker) and guest star Gregg Henry (Zho'Kaan) . "The interactions between Tucker and Zho'Kaan were very well done," he wrote. "Trinneer is developing Tucker very nicely, and Gregg Henry gives a satisfyingly alien portrayal." Read more at this page.

Over at TrekPulse, Litsa Guevara praised Roxann Dawson's (B'Elanna Torres) direction. "She doesnít let go of the characters, keeping them on track to tell a good story. ZhoíKaan was truly as alien as could be, considering a human actor was playing him. I contribute this to both the actor who played him, and Dawson, who kept a firm grip on how the characters should be portrayed. The camera angles and use of lighting in this episode was very effective." The episode was given a score of 4.5 out of 5 in the full review.

ScoopMe'sC.J. Carter described 'Dawn' as "a very well done homage to TOS's 'Arena,' TNG's 'Darmok', as well as the 1985 Gossett/Quaid vehicle, Enemy Mine." Here's an excerpt from the review:

We aren't hit over the head with the message that if both sides are willing to trust a little, and give a little, then a lot of conflict can be avoided. That while you might not make a new friend, at least you won't gain a new enemy. This isn't quite the world we're living in as I write this. There is a great deal of tension and mistrust -- which may or may not be deserved; but if we strive for the kinds of accommodation we saw between the Humans and the Arkonians in fiction, then we might actually survive to see it in fact. That's good sci-fi.

"John Shiban, who previously wrote 'Minefield,' delivers a seemingly simple script that avoids the kind of false notes that would have had Trip easily befriending the alien or ending the episode on a purely positive note as many Voyager episodes did," wrote O. Deus at TrekWeb. "Instead, Trip's demonstration of goodwill by tossing away his weapon and untying the alien and his speech on the importance of their cooperation just results in a vicious and brutal fight." The complete analysis can be found here.

Somewhat less effusive was Samuel T. Cogley at Subspace BBS, who felt the episode was basically a poor reworking of 'Enemy Mine.' Here's an excerpt from his review:

This was as close as I have ever seen a Star Trek episode come to blatantly stealing an entire movie and passing it off as their own. The set-up is the same. The characters are the same. The settings are the same. The alienís make-up and reptilian characteristics are the same. Entire scenes have been lifted. Plot points have been stolen.

Television Without Pity's'Keckler' summed up her feelings about 'Dawn' with the title of her review - 'From Dusk 'Til Yawn.' "Oh. Joy. Another Trip-centered episode," she wrote. "Because, of course, we certainly haven't had enough of those. I mean, it's not like he's overexposed or anything, or that certain other members of the cast are so underexposed they disappear literally and figuratively from the screen. In fact, Trinneer's drawlin' mug is so IN-frequently on the screen, I almost forgot what his bare chest looked like." The episode was awarded an C minus in the full 8-page recap.

"I went into 'Dawn' with some relatively high hopes. John Shiban's only previous ENT outing was 'Minefield' and Roxann Dawson's last directing stint was 'Dead Stop'. As those two episodes have been among the few bright spots in an otherwise lackluster season so far, I was hoping that their combined efforts would prove fruitful," wrote Tim Lynch at Psi Phi. "In moments here and there, I was right -- certainly, 'Dawn' succeeded a bit more than its rather shopworn premise might suggest. For the most part, however, 'Dawn' is far, far more run-of-the-mill than either of the two predecessors I mentioned." Find out why Lynch gave the episode a score of 5.5 out of 10 in the full review.